Although it is the weekend, just returned to the isolation of the hotel Ningbo Rimanx door and window accessories Limited general manager Ding Yandong is still busy arranging work.

As one of the members of the first business round-trip charter flight to expand the market, foreign trade man Ding Yandong told the first financial, the overall market this year is not very good, and overseas factories have basically recovered, in addition to improving the competitiveness of their own enterprises, indeed, there is a sense of urgency to “grab a single”. For this reason, he went out to carry nearly 60 pounds of samples to meet new and old customers, “is certainly good to meet on the spot, the depth of communication and sincerity are different”.

Total trip of 12 days to Europe, Ding Yandong ran seven locations, met seven customers, took a total of about 2 million euros (about 13.8 million yuan) of orders, “part of the intention to order, part of the direct settlement,” the overall close to the company’s annual order amount of one-third, but also stabilized the original decline in the obvious The second half, “this year is expected to be slightly lower than last year as a whole, if good, can be flat, which has exceeded expectations.

Fellow traveler Wei Guowen in Europe than Ding Yandong’s schedule is more compact. As general manager of Ningbo Baolinda Import & Export Co., Ltd, one of the 36 foreign trade people who took the country’s first business round-trip charter flight to expand the market, Wei Guowen took the company’s original dolls to meet 10 customers, including seven old customers and three new customers.

“The first two years our orders grew steadily, but in the first half of this year began to find that the strength of receiving orders fell.” Wei Guowen said to First Financial, went out, the customers visited are currently in the order no more problems, some customers will have new orders this year, a total harvest of about 10 million euros worth of intended orders, but also accounted for about one-third of the company’s annual sales.

From July 10 to July 22, this trip to the sea by chartered aircraft “to grab a single” successfully set a precedent for Ningbo and even the country to provide a reference. Just a day before the first plane landed back home, the second batch of 14 foreign trade people and opened a direct flight from Ningbo to Europe, “market expansion” trip.

As the “sixth city of China’s foreign trade”, Ningbo’s charter flight to grab a single worth? Can it be copied? In the face of shrinking demand in the global market, what else can foreign trade people do?

Rush orders

Less than two days after returning to China, Yuan Lin, who had been a visitor abroad every year before the epidemic, has quickly recovered from jet lag.

As the general manager of Ningbo Haishu Peining International Trade Co., Ltd, Yuan Lin is in the garment foreign trade industry, which is the most challenging this year. “The first half of the order is okay, the second half of the year is especially difficult, compared to last year, down seventy to eighty percent.” Yuan Lin told Firstrade that the orders in 2021 were growing, but the orders started to decline seriously this year because the original European customers were acquired during the epidemic. The business charter provided them with the opportunity to communicate with new buyers in person and stabilize old customers.

Orders from the apparel industry generally rose last year due to the return of orders. But this year, the situation has reversed – with the resumption of production in Southeast Asia, represented by Vietnam, and India, it has become tricky to “grab orders” from these regions, where labor costs are lower.

Yuan Lin said, because the company’s production of clothing is not a simple model to run the volume, but with relatively complex and personalized design, so the order transfer to Southeast Asia is not serious, but still face the overall situation downward, the customer inventory pressure and other challenges.

The market cake shrinks at the same time, by the domestic epidemic and international logistics and other factors, the order delivery period is generally extended by 2 to 3 months also makes Yuan Lin they seem passive.

“Many problems existed last year. But before, customers also had epidemic restrictions, so they could still accept and understand, but now that they are back to normal, they will also ask us to operate on a regular basis. If we can’t keep up with the progress, it will be more difficult to do.” In her opinion, the risk of order diversion may increase with poor communication and failure to meet in time to implement details. Before the epidemic, they would meet and communicate with customers an average of six or seven times a year, including when they came to the country to confirm orders, approve samples and inspect goods.

Like Yuan Lin, Ding Yandong’s business also encountered overseas customers were acquired, which made his mood to go abroad to “grab a single” in person become urgent.

“This company in Poland has been cooperating with us for many years, with an annual order of 1 million U.S. dollars, but this year the company was acquired, the other party’s attitude has become very delicate, the order is delayed.” Ding Yandong admits that in recent years, the factory’s land and labor cost advantages are gradually lost, coupled with similar products exported from Turkey to Europe can enjoy zero tariff, some overseas customers began to look for alternative solutions. Since March this year, coupled with the epidemic caused by logistics, offline communication and many other poor, he “have never met” the Chinese suppliers, facing the risk of being replaced.

As soon as the plane landed in Europe, Ding Yandong opened a visitor’s tour that he had already booked and quickly met with his “old customer” in Poland. In addition to capturing the previous Polish customer’s purchase demand for new products, he also prepared solutions specifically for the customer’s pain points, showcasing the company’s strength and sincerity, and increasing his bargaining chips.

Their efforts and approach proved to be effective. Ding Yandong, who got an order of 1 million euros from this customer as he wished, said, “The other party saw our sincerity and recognized our strength.

Confidence

For foreign trade people, a meeting is better than 1000 e-mails. Go to sea to stabilize orders, finalize new orders one by one, but also to foreign trade people brought more important than gold confidence.

The first time with the original doll “Xiao Yi” out of Wei Guowen, is one of the most rewarding and well-prepared foreign trade people on this trip. She said, this time abroad is not temporary, but very early prepared, “many times during the epidemic have booked a good ticket, also do a good visa, but no return ticket, so had to cancel again. This chartered flight is a very targeted solution to our problems”.

Wei Guowen, who has not left the country since February 2020, said they have not seen their customers for a full 882 days, with exports as their main market. As an innovative enterprise focusing on the development and production of children’s educational toys, before the epidemic, their own brand has had a certain degree of popularity in Europe, currently 60% of the export share in Europe, and in more than 70 countries and regions around the world to establish a distribution system.

Since they make creative products, she said that many ideas can only collide in face-to-face communication, and meeting is especially important. For this reason, she followed a long-established visitor plan and met all the new and old customers she had made appointments with during her 12-day trip to Europe, as she had hoped, and not only brought a series of new samples prepared to her customers and signed a three-year-long agency agreement with a new Hungarian customer, but also brought back samples that were popular in overseas markets or that her customers liked.

In her opinion, the Ningbo government’s initiative to organize business charters for enterprises has shown overseas businessmen the determination and strength of the Chinese, which also contains the strength of the government as a backing. From the enterprise itself, Wei Guowen’s team, who brought innovative materials and the latest designs developed independently, also showed the customers the uniqueness and irreplaceability.

Ding Yandong and Wei Guowen both said that they will continue to explore the market or exhibit at sea next. Liu Jie, deputy general manager of Zhuo Li Electric Group Co., Ltd. also said that the feeling of meeting and chatting with old customers during this trip to Europe was really long overdue. In addition to face to face to promote feelings, they are also observing the mapping of the market, in preparation for the European exhibition in September.

Ningbo Customs data show that in the first half of 2022, Ningbo’s total imports and exports reached 632.25 billion yuan, an increase of 11.9% over the same period last year. Among them, exports 408.5 billion yuan, up 14.1% year-on-year; imports 223.75 billion yuan, up 8.1% year-on-year. In the first half of the year, Ningbo private enterprises import and export 448.17 billion yuan, an increase of 12.9%, accounting for 70.9% of the city’s total imports and exports in the same period, an increase of 0.7 percentage points.

In the view of Jin Ge, deputy director of Ningbo Municipal Government Development Research Center, affected by the epidemic, overseas business negotiations, exhibitors basically can not be made, foreign trade customers easily lost, which is the urgent business; because foreign trade accounts for a large proportion of Ningbo’s economy, foreign trade, if the problem, it will affect the development of Ningbo’s economy, which is the urgent government. Coupled with the complex situation at home and abroad, the common formation of the situation is urgent, the enterprise is urgent, the government is urgent “three urgent”. And “such a proactive approach”, is the initiative of enterprises, but also the government’s role.

Challenge

Han Jie, director of the Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province, said that the charter group completed the task of round-trip Europe, not only for the development of their own business, to expand orders, but also for Zhejiang Province and the country’s outbound business contacts to wade out a new road.

As the head of the business group, Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Commerce Trade Promotion Department Director Fei Jianming hanging heart until the plane landed at Xiaoshan Airport to put down.

And Yuan Lin, in addition to meeting old customers at regular intervals, did not go to local shopping malls or markets like she did before the outbreak to check the market situation and trends. She admits that she still worries, in case of infection will not be able to return in time, and domestic orders need to be arranged.

At the end of June on the first to shout “go to sea to grab a single, package you back” slogan and corresponding initiatives of the county-level city of Haining, Zhejiang Province, so far has not really gone to sea into a group.

The person in charge of Haining City Business Bureau told Firstrade that some enterprises still have concerns, “worrying about infection after going out”, which also reduces the willingness and enthusiasm to participate in chartered flights. As a county-level city with a high degree of economic extroversion, Haining has close to 2,000 enterprises doing export business at the highest, with export markets all over the world. After communication and mapping with enterprises, they found that the main challenge for enterprises at the moment or the overall weakness of the global market demand, not only the problem of shifting orders to Southeast Asia.

Although there is no charter into a group, but the person in charge said that there are still more and more enterprises are breaking through the barriers, and actively go to sea to contact the market.

In addition to helping enterprises to take orders at sea, governments around the world have also introduced policies to help alleviate hardship, encourage enterprises to transform cross-border e-commerce and “on behalf of the exhibition” model and other more common practices. What way to choose to take orders, and how to balance the risks of the epidemic, is obviously a realistic choice for each enterprise based on their own needs and investment returns